Stewardship program gone flat
Re Tire program needs a retread, Editorial Jan. 9 The British have a word for it: “quango,” an acronym for “quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization,” meaning an organization ostensibly existing at arm’s length from government but in fact dependent on government financing or devolved monopoly revenue powers for the lion’s share of its income.
Quangos are generally established by government fiat or become such when a government insinuates itself into becoming the primary source of an organization’s funding, as in the case of our hospitals, ostensibly independent, notfor-profit charitable institutions, founded, and still notionally owned, by religious and secular organizations such as the Sisters of St. Joseph or the Shriners.
Crown corporations are quangos, as are agencies like eHealth Ontario, ORNGE, Waterfront Toronto andthe Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS). See a pattern?
The essential problem with quangos is that they are structurally corrupt – their inherent design makes them unaccountable to the ultimate funder – the taxpayer. When governance boards are stuffed with political patronage appointments and when executive teams are hired from the same old boys network of other quangos (agencies, associations, government-paid “consultants,” etc.) equally reliant on tax-funded largesse for their financial viability, then waste, scandal and breach of the public trust are entirely predictable outcomes.
Tire recycling is not rocket science, especially when you have monopoly taxation (“eco fee”) authority to gouge the Ontario consumer with. The entire program could be run from within the Ontario public service by a single department head earning far less than the profligate party animals at OTS waste on booze-fuelled junkets alone.
This “private sector” agency, and many more like it, has no legitimate reason for existing, except as a corporate welfare program for dissolute party hacks. Edward Ozog, Brantford Again, the Star has shown an uncanny ability to ferret out the most obscure and covert misuse of public funds by public servants and government-related organizations. This time you dug deep into the pigsty to find the burrowing moles of the recycling program.
What is really incredible is the blatant effrontery of the chair, Glenn Maidment, who states, “All of those things, I think, were fair and reasonable.” It is amazing how the culprits can justify their behaviour. Without an alert press, we would likely have much more of this kind of abuse and waste of public money. Sigmund Roseth, Mississauga
If anyone needs recycling it’s the agen- cy’s executive director Andrew Horsman and chairman Glenn Maidment.
They apparently feel it’s perfectly fine for themselves and other board members to indulge in fancy food and drink, luxury hotels, boat cruises and political donations (to the Ontario Liberal Party), thanks to the $5 per tire eco fee paid by vehicle owners who believe the fee is to cover the costs of recycling old tires.
Just another pathetic example of the arrogance of some members of the executive class, and the incompetence of those who appoint them to these boondoggle positions. Congratulations to the Star for making this known. Peter Dickens, Scarborough I am concerned that the Star’s one-sided attack on the tire recycling agency could kill a recycling program that is a huge success. Each year we throw away millions of used tires. They’re very hard to recycle and can’t be landfilled. So, dead tires used to accumulate in piles – the Hagersville tire pile covered 18 football fields. When it caught fire over 250 firefighters and two water bombers needed 17 days to put the flames out.
Tire stewardship was created to find ways to recycle tires. A report prepared by the State of California says that today, in Ontario, 96 per cent of car tires and “essentially all” truck tires are recycled. For the sake of my kids, be very careful how you mess with this success. Geoff Foulds, Toronto In comparison, this makes Sen. Mike Duffy look bush-league. When will the premier deflate this puffed-up group of tire inspectors? In the meantime I think I’ll set up a stewardship council for recycling bread wrappers. Bring on the hotels, bring on the wine, bring on the sup – and fill me up. Don Graves, Burlington With this government, far too often, excess, egotism, and entitlement appear to be the guiding principals. Time to recycle the recyclers. Jeff Green, Toronto